Badminton

Jing Yu Hong and Beiwen Zhang Win Opener at US Badminton National Championships

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Most of the top competitors at the US Badminton National Championships didn’t have to play at all on Friday night to open the event. That wasn’t the case for Beiwen Zhang and Jing Yu Hong in women’s doubles. The defending national championships faced Ariel Lee and Sydney Lee and emerged with a 21-10, 21-9 win. The women’s doubles field is just six deep so there is a round robin competition going on while the other competitions are elimination tournaments.

Things continue on Saturday with the rest of the top competitors getting in to action.

Previous US Badminton National Championships Coverage:
Preview

Olympic Trials, Rio 2016 Olympic Trials, Shooting

Leaders Established on First Day of Air Shooting Olympic Trials

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Leaders emerged in all four competitions after the first day of the Air Shooting Olympic Trials but none stood out more than Lydia Paterson in women’s air pistol. Paterson dominated the field shooting a 387, nine better than anyone else, and then went on to win the final to end the day up 10 points on Courtney Anthony. Alexis Lagan is 15 points back in third.

The closest competition comes in the men’s air pistol where Will Brown had the top score in qualifying with a 574 but came in third in the final and only leads James Hall and Jason Turner by two points. Alexander Chichkov is well within striking range three points back as is Nickolaus Mowrer who is four back.

In the women’s air rifle Sarah Scherer was the only one of the three Americans with top 15 world cup finishes this year to really shine on day one. Scherer had the top qualifying score of 417.3 and finished second in the final to hold a 2.9 point lead. Sarah Beard was within 1.5 of Scherer in qualifying but finished last in the final and is over seven points back. Emily Holsopple was further back than Beard in qualifying and her second to last place finish in the final has her over eight points back. Scherer does have some competition however from Rhiann Travis, who is in second after winning the final, Amy Sowash, who was third in the final after a solid qualifying round, and Elizabeth Gratz, who sits 4.9 points back in fourth.

In the men’s rifle competition, where two spots are up for grabs, Lucas Kozeniesky posted the top qualifying score of 628.5 and finished third in the final to finish in front after the first day by 3.4 points. Daniel Lowe is in second after posting the second best qualifying score and finishing fourth in the final. Ivan Roe won the final to make up for a weaker qualifying score and is in third just 0.3 behind the second qualifying spot. Matthew Rawlings makes it one more in contention as he sits 4.9 behind Lowe in fourth place. Dempster Christenson had a disappointing day with a qualifying score that missed out on the final by 0.8 and he is now 12.5 points out of qualifying position, a real uphill challenge.

Previous US Air Shooting Olympic Trials Coverage:
Preview

Canoeing, ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup

Two Americans Advance to Semifinals at ICF Slalom World Cup in Ivrea, Italy

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Two of the seven Americans competing in the ICF Slalom World Cup event on Friday in Ivrea, Italy were able to advance to Saturday’s competition. Zachary Lokken advanced in the men’s C1 event by finishing 20th, the final qualifying spot, in the first heat. Lokken took just two penalties points for a total of 100.16 and finished 0.99 ahead of the first competitor to miss qualifying for the final. Tyler Smith and Tren Long finished 34th and 35th, both over 17 behind Lokken, and had to go to the second qualifying heat. In the second heat Smith was 18th and Long 19th with only the top 10 advancing. Smith was 13 back of 10th place with a 119 score while Long had a 121.42 score.

The other American to advance was Richard Powell who finished 25th in the first heat of the men’s K1 competition. The top 30 were advanced and Powell in 92.16 was just over a second clear of the first man not to advance. Tyler Westfall was 43rd and Smith 53rd as they both had to go to the second qualifying heat. Neither came close to the ten qualifying positions from the second heat as Westfall was 28th and Smith 30th both over nine seconds behind the qualifiers.

The other American competing on Friday was Anna Maria Ifarraguerri in the women’s K1. Ifarraguerri finished 38th in the opening heat, over 60 back after taking a 50 point penalty, and was closer in the second qualifying heat but finished 13th with the top ten advancing and 15 back of the final qualifier.

On Saturday Lokken and Powell will compete in the semifinals of their events with hopes of advancing to the final later in the day. Powell and Westfall will also compete in the debut of the men’s K1 Cross, where athletes will go head to head in a race down the course. The event begins with a time trial for seeding before advancing through quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final.

Previous ICF Slalom World Cup Coverage:
Ivrea Preview

Canoeing, ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup

Maggie Hogan Reaches Final of K1 1000m at ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup in Montemor

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Maggie Hogan opened her competition at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup in Montemor, Portugal on the right foot as she finished second in her five-woman heat to reach Saturday’s final in the K1 1000m. Hogan was 1.07 seconds behind the heat winner as she finished in 4:16.39.

In the men’s K1000m Shawn Kaho’okele advanced to the semifinals finishing seventh in his heat with a time of 3:58.94 while Timothy Burdiak was eighth in his heat in a time of 3:58.18 and was eliminated. Kaho’okele needed a top three finish in his semifinal to reach the final A and finished seventh in 4:08.79 to fall into final B.

In the men’s C1 1000m Ian Ross advanced to the semifinals with a seventh place finish in his heat in 4:16.82. Needing to finish top three in those semifinals to reach the final Ross was close in a time of 4:30.33 but finished fourth, 1.2 seconds behind the final qualifier.

In the final solo event on Friday Ariel Farrar-Wellman and Emily Wright both qualified for the semifinals of the women’s K1 200m. Farrar-Wellman was sixth in her heat in 49.288 to grab a semifinal spot while Wright was sixth in 47.664 in her heat to advance. Competing in separate semifinals Farrar-Wellman and Wright each finished eighth with the fourth through seventh place finishers going to the final B. The best eighth place finisher would also advance and that was Wright who finished in 47 flat compared to Farrar-Wellman’s 49.08.

Wright and Farrar-Wellman teamed up in the K2 200m and finished seventh in their heat in 43.6 as they were guaranteed a semifinal spot. They finished fifth in the semifinal in 44.68 and were eliminated as only the top three advanced, the final spot being a second ahead of them. In the men’s K2 200m Aaron Mullican and Burdiak were eliminated in the heat after finishing eighth and missing out on the best time spot by over four seconds with a time of 40.96 while Christopher Miller and Stanton Collins advanced with a time of 36.57 and a seventh place finish in their heat. Miller and Collins were eliminated in the semifinals when they finished eighth in 36.63. The race was very competitive as they were just 1.1 seconds behind the final qualifier in third place.

Miller and Collins also took part in the K2 1000m where they advanced to the semifinals with a fifth place finish in 3:45.86. They missed out on a spot in the final A by over six seconds but finished fifth in the semifinals in 3:45.92 to reach the final B.

In addition to those in the finals on Saturday several Americans will be beginning their competitions. Ross and Gavin Ross are competing in the C2 200m which begins directly in a final. Kaho’okele and Timothy Hornsby will compete in the men’s K1 200m. The top finishers reach the final while the others have semifinals on the mind.

In the men’s C1 200m Ian Ross and Benjamin Hefner will face the same situation with only the top finisher advancing straight to the final while Burdiak sees that scenario in the men’s K1 500m and Hogan and Farrar-Wellman see it in the women’s version.

Gavin Ross and Ian Ross both compete in the C1 500m where the top three reach the final and the others have a single semifinal to aim for and they face the same scenario together in the C2 1000m. Kaho’okele, Burdiak, Collins, and Miller all team up in the K4 1000m where they’ll need a top three finish to reach the final or will be looking at a semifinal berth.

Previous ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup Coverage:
Montemor Preview

Cycling, Mountain Bike, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup

Aaron Gwin Leads 10 Men Into Mountain Bike World Cup Downhill Event in Fort William

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Aaron Gwin will go for his third straight top five finish in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup downhill events this weekend in Fort William, Scotland. Gwin won the season opening event in Lourdes, France but came up fourth in Cairns, Australia. Gwin is joined this weekend by six Americans who did not take part in either of the opening events as well as two who finished in the top 15 in Cairns, Luca Shaw who was 13th and Eliot Jackson who was 14th. Saturday will be the qualifying round for Sunday’s final.

Previous Mountain Bike World Cup Downhill Coverage:
Cairns Recap

Fencing, Fencing World Cup

5-2 Friday Sees Madison Zeiss Advance to Table of 64

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It was 50-50 for the two American women trying to earn a spot in the table of 64 in Friday’s preliminaries for the foil grand prix event in Shanghai. Amy Jia only managed to win one of her six pool matches and was eliminated there but Madison Zeiss went 4-2 and earned a knockout match for a spot in the table of 64. Zeiss got 13-8 win over China’s Jiaxin Huang to earn a fourth US spot in the table of 64 along with Lee Kiefer, Nzingha Prescod, and Nicole Ross who all had byes into the table of 64.

The men’s competition gets underway with two Americans in the preliminaries: Drew Johnston and Axel Kiefer. Four other Americans, Alexander Massialas, Gerek Meinhardt, Race Imboden, and Miles Chamley-Watson, already have spots in the table of 64 locked up.

Previous Fencing World Cup Coverage:
Moscow Recap

Diamond League, Track and Field

Justin Gatlin Wins Third Straight 100m in Diamond League in Rome

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Justin Gatlin continued his hot start to the 2016 Diamond League winning the 100m for the third straight event as he posted a season best time of 9.93, besting fellow American Ameer Webb by just 0.01 seconds. Webb himself set a personal best in the event. Gatlin was the only American to win an event in Rome but there were some other good finishes for the US. Marquise Goodwin had a season best second place finish in the long jump as he continues to round into form before the Olympic Trials. Michael Hartfield finished fifth in the same event. Webb also finished strong in the second event he took part in, a second place finish in the 200m to match his 100m finish. Going second and third in the women’s 100m were English Gardner and Barbara Pierre.

Also finishing in the top five were Vernon Norwood, fifth in the 400m, Cassandra Tate, fourth in the 400m hurdles, Stanley Kipkoech Kebenei, fifth in the 3000m steeplechase with a personal best, Katie Nageotte, fifth in the pole vault, and Tia Brooks, fifth in the shot put. Ajee Wilson was 11th in the 800m and Brittany Borman also finished 11th in the javelin throw.

The next Diamond League event is in Birmingham, England on Sunday.

Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Rome Preview

Badminton

US Badminton National Championships Start Friday

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Some of the best US Badminton athletes will be heading to West Palm Beach, Florida for the National Championships starting on Friday. Titles will be awarded in men’s and women’s singles as well as men’s, women’s, and mixed doubles.

Of note in the field…
Men’s doubles – the US Olympic team of Phillip Chew and Sattawat Pongnairat is seeded #1
Women’s singles – defending champion Beiwen Zhang, reached the quarterfinals on the Singapore Open in April and is seeded #1
Women’s doubles – Jing Yu Hong/Zhang are defending their national championship and seeded #1
Mixed doubles – Chew and Jamie Subandhi, the US Olympic team, are seeded #1. Defending champion Yu Hong is paired with Abhishek Ahlawat this year and unseeded.

 

Olympic Trials, Rio 2016 Olympic Trials, Shooting

Final Five Olympic Spots to be Determined This Weekend at Air Shooting Olympic Trials

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There are only five spots still available on the US Olympic Shooting team for Rio and after this weekend we’ll know who will fill those spots. Competitions in women’s air rifle and pistol along with men’s pistol are awarding an Olympic spot to the top finisher this weekend while the top two in men’s rifle will get Olympic berths. Unlike competitions for other Olympic berths all of the shooters enter this event with clean slates.

In the women’s air rifle Emily Holsopple was 15th in Bangkok, Sarah Beard was eighth in Rio, and Sarah Scherer was eighth in Bangkok providing the US three with some strong international finishes who will be competing this weekend. In men’s air rifle Lucas Kozeniesky was 21st in Bangkok, Dempster Christenson was 26th in Rio, and Ivan Roe was 16th in Bangkok.

The women’s air pistol competitors have not had a ton of success in world cup events this year but Lydia Paterson did just finish 31st in Munich last month. On the men’s side Will Brown will be the heavy favorite with his silver from Bangkok and fifth place finish in Rio. Nickolaus Mowrer has also been competitive with a 16th place finish in Bangkok.

In all four competitions there will be three days of qualifying + eight-person finals with the overall combined scores determining the winners.

Previous US Shooting Olympic Trials Coverage:
Shotgun Recap

Canoeing, ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup

Full Strength American Contingent Will Compete at ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup in Montemor

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After having just two athletes compete through the first two events of the ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup the US has a much larger presence at the third and final stop of 2016 in Montemor, Portugal. Action gets underway on Friday and continues through Sunday.

Maggie Hogan, who will be competing for the US at the Olympics in Rio in K1 500m, will be competing on Friday in the K1 1000m. Hogan will take part in a five-woman heat where the top three go directly to Saturday’s final and the next three will advance to the semifinals later on Friday. In the K1 1000m men’s competition Shawn Kaho’okele and Timothy Burdiak will compete. Only the top finisher in each heat reaches the final so both will likely reach semifinals later in the day.

In the men’s C1 1000m Ian Ross will compete for the Us with the top three into the final and a semifinal taking part later in the day as well. It is the only canoe event of the day. The only other solo event on Friday is the women’s K1 200m where Ariel Farrar-Wellman and Emily Wright will take part. This is an event where only the top finisher advances directly to the final so later in the day semifinals are likely.

In the men’s K2 200m the US has two teams competing, Christopher Miller and Stanton Collins as well as Aaron Mullican and Burdiak. This event qualifies three to the final with a single semifinal held later in the day on Friday. The women’s K2 200m has the same advancement scenarios with Wright and Farrar-Wellman competing.

The final event of the day is the men’s K2 1000m where Miller and Collins will compete again. This one qualifies just one straight to the final with the Saturday semifinal a more likely destination.

Previous ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup Coverage:
Racice Recap

Covering America's Athletes